Aker Arctic carried out ice model tests for the Alaska Region Research Vessel (ARRV) in 2002 and 2009. The vessel, R/V Sikuliaq, was built by Marinette Marine Corporation (Wisconsin, USA) and delivered to the National Science Foundation in 2014.

Prior to the acquisition by Aker Arctic, AKAC Inc. (today Aker Arctic Canada) was part of the ARRV design team. The company also developed the ice operations manual and carried out full-scale ice trials in 2015 to verify the vessel's operational capability in ice. You can read more about the full-scale ice trials of R/V Sikuliaq in Arctic Passion News 1/2016.